Memecoin

A token whose value is driven by social narrative and speculation rather than utility.

A memecoin is a token whose pricing is driven by community attention, narrative, and speculative trading rather than fundamental utility or cash flows. Dogecoin started the category in 2013 as a joke; the modern memecoin ecosystem on Solana, Base, and other low-fee chains launches thousands of new tokens daily.

Most memecoins go to zero within weeks. A small fraction reach significant market caps and persist for years. The category is dismissed by serious DeFi participants but generates enormous trading volume and onboards retail users who go on to use other crypto products.